Detachable protector for steel bodies

ABSTRACT

A detachable side protector comprises a base having slidably received on the upper surface thereof and magnetically held thereto two extension strips projecting horizontally therefrom in opposite directions. The protector is magnetically held on the exterior surface of a steel body to prevent damage thereto during the opening of doors on neighboring vehicles.

O United States Patent [15] 3,659,887 Marquette 1 May 2, 1972 54]DETACHABLE PROTECTOR FOR 3,147,176 9/1964 Haslam ..161/39 STEEL BODIES3,243,223 3/1966 Hoshell... ..49/460 3,325,639 6/1967 King ..240/52.15[72] Inventor: Russell C. Marquette, 2423 East 15th St. 3 473 33 10 19 9Halter" 2933 0 AP A,Tul8a,0k1a- 74104 2,935,855 5/1960 Reid ..61/48 [22]Filed: 1969 Primary Examiner-Arthur L. La Point [21 Appl. No.: 874,115Assistant Examiner-Robert Saifer Attorney-Head & Johnson [52] U.S. Cl..293/1, 293/62 [57] ABSTRACT [51] Int. Cl. .B60r 19/08 I I 58 Field 6:Search ..293/|, 54 D, 56 M, 71, 62; A detachable slde ProtectorCOmPHSe-S a base havmg slldably 248/206 A, 3451; 114/219 received on theupper surface thereof and magnetically held thereto two extension stripsprojecting horizontally therefrom [56] References Cited in oppositedirections. The protector is magnetically held on the exterior surfaceof a steel body to prevent damage thereto UMTED STATES PATENTS duringthe opening ofdoors on neighboring vehicles. 1,560,040 1 H1925 Cerf..293/71 2 Claims, 9 Drawing Figures Putented May 2, 1972 3,659,887

8 INVENTOR RUSSELL C. MAROUETTE ATTORNEYS DETACIIABLE PROTECTOR FORSTEEL BODIES BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to anovel and improved means for protecting the exterior finish of a vehiclefrom damage caused by neighboring vehicles in parking lots, garages, orthe like.

Due to the large and ever-growing number of motor vehicles, it hasbecome a common parking lot practice to park them as close as possible.Consequentially, when a vehicle is being entered or exited, the door ofone vehicle often comes in contact with the side of an adjacent vehicle.This door contact often results in a marring or chipping of the exteriorfinish of the vehicle hit causing a diminution in the eye pleasingappearance thereof and also a reduction in the resale value thereof.This chipping and marring of the exterior surface of the vehicle isaggrevated by the fact that many vehicles are presently beingmanufactured without any protecting devices longitudinally attachedalong the exterior sides such as strips of chrome.

It is therefore an object of this invention to present a protector whichcan be attached to the side of a vehicle during parking and removedtherefrom when the car is being driven.

It is a second object of this invention to present a protector whichwill not mar the surface of the vehicle and which is magnetically heldto the exterior thereof.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Generally the protector comprises a base striphaving slidably received on the upper surface thereof two extensionstrips extending in opposite directions. The strips are magneticallyheld to the exterior of the vehicle and are outwardly arcuate in crosssection to receive and absorb any shock imparted thereto by the door ofa neighboring vehicle being opened. The protector is fabricated frommaterial having sufficient plasticity so that it will not mar thevehicles finish, during attachment thereto or detachment therefrom, butwill resume its original configuration after being struck.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a partial view of an automobileshowing a plurality of the protectors longitudinally attached to theexterior side thereof.

FIG. 2 is a view of the protector showing the various componentsthereof.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the protector taken along line 33 ofFIG. 4.

FIG. 4 is a partial cross-sectional view of the apparatus taken alongthe line 4-4 of FIG. 2 and showing the specific configuration of theends of the various sections of the protector.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the protector showing one embodimentof the invention taken along line 5-5 of FIG. 6.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the protector specifically showingan alternate embodiment of this invention.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of the protector specifically showing athird embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of the protector taken along line 8-8of FIG. 7.

FIG. 9 is a view of the protector taken along line 9-9 of FIG. 7.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT FIG. 1 shows three ofthe protectors 10 longitudinally affixed in horizontal alignment alongthe exterior side of a vehicle at the outermost portion thereof so as toreceive any shock imparted thereto such as by a door from an adjacentvehicle being banged thereagainst during the opening thereof.

As illustrated in FIG. 2, the protector 10 is composed of elongated basestrip 12 having slidably received on the upper surface thereof in acommon plane and projecting outwardly therefrom in opposite directions aforward extension strip l4 and a rearward extension strip 16. Each ofthe strips 12, 14, and 16 have a convexly arcuate-in-cross-sectionportion 17 bordered along each longitudinal edge thereof by horizontalflanges 18A and 18B extending outwardly to provide a contact surfaceface for attachment to the exterior side of a vehicle.

Both of the ends of the base strip 12 and the outer ends of each of theextension strips 14 and 16 are downwardly rounded to increase theaesthetic appearance of the protector 10. The inner ends 20 and 22 ofthe extension strips are perpendicular to the length thereof in order topermit slidable saddling thereof on the upper surface of the base strip12.

Although the strips may be fabricated from a variety of materials, ithas been found that elongated strips formed into the desired shape bythe extrusion molding of granulars of polyethylene possess sufiicientplasticity to receive and absorb shocks without permanent deformationthereof and also are sufficiently soft so as not to mar the exteriorfinish of the vehicle during attachment to and detachment from thevehicle.

Numerous methods of slidably saddling the extension strips on the basestrip and of detachably attaching the protector to the exterior of thevehicle can be employed, several of which will hereafter be discussed.

In the first embodiment, the strips are fabricated from a blend offerrite powder and polyethylene plastic extrusion molded into thedesired elongated arcuate shapes. The strips are then passed through amagnetizer wherein the ferrite power is magnetized to transform thestrips into permanent magnets, with the north poles on the upper surfaceof each strip and the south poles on the bottom surface thereof so thatthe upper surface of the base 12 will attract and hold the bottomsurface of the extension strips received thereover as is illustrated inFIG. 4. Optimum protection length of the protector 10 is attained byslidable travel of the extension strips 14 and 16 relative to the base12, and the strips 12, 14, and 16 are magnetically retained on theexterior surface of the vehicle by the magnetic properties of theflanges 18A and 18B.

In a second embodiment, the strips are molded into the desired convexlyarcuate elongated shape having longitudinal horizontal flanges. In eachof the strips 12, 14, and 16 unitary magnetic rods 25 are then embeddedin the crown of the arcuate section and each of the flanges along theentire length thereof as is shown in FIG. 5. The extruded polyethylenesurrounding the magnetic rods 24 prevents marring of the vehicles finishwhile the magnetic attraction force of the rods which is not impaired bythe surrounding polyethylene material holds the respective base stripsand extension strips mutually together as is illustrated in FIG. 6 andalso to the side of the vehicle.

In still a further embodiment, the strips are again molded into thedesired shape by the extruding of polyethylene. Thereafter permanentmagnets 26A and 26B are embedded in each of the ends of the base stripand also in the outer ends of the extension strips. Here again thepolyethylene completely surrounds the magnets so as to prevent marringof the vehicles surface during attachment and removal of the protector10.

The permanent magnets serve to magnetically hold the strips to the sideof the car. In this embodiment, the slidable saddling of the extensionstrips to the base strips is accomplished by longitudinal grooves 28Aand 28B laterally spaced and running parallel along the length of thebase strip 12 within the arcuate portion thereof which accept parallelspaced longitudinal inwardly protecting ridges 30A and 308 within theinterior of the arcuate section of each of the extension strips as canbest be seen in the cross section view of FIG. 8.

In operation, when an automobile is parked such as in a parking lot, thecar operator adjusts the length of the protector by slidably travelingthe extension strips 14 and 16 relative to the base strip to attain theoptimum protection for the vehicle and then merely attaches a protectivedevice along the exterior side of the vehicle at points susceptible tobeing hit by the edge of a door of a neighboring vehicle being opened.

When a door of a neighboring vehicle is opened the strip will receiveand, due to the plasticity thereof, absorb the shock and consequentlyprevent any mar-ring of the vehicle s exterior finish.

When there is no need for the protective device, such as when the car isbeing driven, the protector can be collapsed, that is, the extensionstrips can be stacked one on top of each other, and then onto the uppersurface of the base strip to facilitate storage thereof such as in theglove compartment of the vehicle During the description of the preferredembodiment of this invention specific language has been used for thesake of clarity. However, it is to be understood that such words are notwords of limitation and include equivalents which operate in a similarmanner to accomplish a similar purpose. For example, it is obvious thatrather than having the extension strips, the device could be just aseasily fabricated and used as a solitary and unitary stripv Also, ratherthan using magnetic attraction to hold the device to the automobiles,other means such as adhesives could be used.

Also it is obvious that the protecting characteristics of the protectorcould be attained by reversing the relative saddling relationshipbetween the base strips and extension strip; that is the base stripcould just as easily be slidably saddled on the upper surface of theextension strips.

What is claimed:

1. An apparatus for protecting the exterior of a steel body comprising:

a base strip of resilient material, said strip having an elongatedarcuate-in-cross-section portion bordered along each longitudinal edgethereof by integral flat horizontal flanges extending outwardlytherefrom to form contact surfaces for attachment of said base strip tothe exterior of said vehicle, said base strip having unitary lengths ofmagnetic rods embedded from end to end in the crown of said arcuateportion and in said flanges, said base strip being magnetically attachedto the exterior of said body; and

extension strips of resilient material, said extension strips having anelongated arcuate-imcross-section portion mating the curvature of saidbase strip and bordered along the longitudinal edges thereof by integralflat horizontal flanges extending outwardly therefrom to form contactsurfaces for attachment of said extension strips to said exterior ofsaid body, said extension strips having unitary lengths of magnetic rodembedded from end to end in the crown of said arcuate portion and insaid flanges, said extension strips being magnetically saddled on theupper surface of said base strip and slidable in opposite directions tovary the longitudinal length of said apparatus.

2. A detachable apparatus for protecting the exterior of a steel bodycomprising:

an elongated base strip of resilient paramagnetic material, said striphaving an elongated arcuatein-cross-section portion bordered along eachlongitudinal edge thereof by an integral flat horizontal flangeextending outwardly therefrom to form contact surfaces for attachment ofsaid base strip to the exterior of said vehicle, said strip beingmagnetized whereby when said flanges are placed in contact with saidexterior of said body said base strip is magnetically held thereto andsaid arcuate portion projects outwardly from said exterior to receiveand absorb any shock imparted thereto; and

an extension strip of resilient paramagnetic material, said extensionstrip being magnetized and having an elongated arcuate-in-cross-sectionportion mating the curvature of said arcuate portion of said base stripand bordered along each longitudinal edge thereof by an integral flathorizontal flange extending outwardly therefrom to form contact surfacesfor attachment of said extension strip to the exterior of said body,said extension strip being magnetically saddled to the upper surface ofsaid base strip and slidable relative thereto to vary the longitudinallength of said apparatus.

1. An apparatus for protecting the exterior of a steel body comprising:a base strip of resilient material, said strip having an elongatedarcuate-in-cross-section portion bordered along each longitudinal edgethereof by integral flat horizontal flanges extending outwardlytherefrom to form contact surfaces for attachment of said base strip tothe exterior of said vehicle, said base strip having unitary lengths ofmagnetic rods embedded from end to end in the crown of said arcuateportion and in said flanges, said base strip being magnetically attachedto the exterior of said body; and extension strips of resilientmaterial, said extension strips having an elongatedarcuate-in-cross-section portion mating the curvature of said base stripand bordered along the longitudinal edges thereof by integral flathorizontal flanges extending outwardly therefrom to form contactsurfaces for attachment of said extension strips to said exterior ofsaid body, said extension strips having unitary lengths of magnetic rodembedded from end to end in the crown of said arcuate portion and insaid flanges, said extension strips being magnetically saddled on theupper surface of said base strip and slidable in opposite directions tovary the longitudinal length of said apparatus.
 2. A detachableapparatus for protecting the exterior of a steel body comprising: anelongated base strip of resilient paramagnetic material, said striphaving an elongated arcuate-in-cross-section portion bordered along eachlongitudinal edge thereof by an integral flat horizontal flangeextending outwardly therefrom to form contact surfaces for attachment ofsaid base strip to the exterior of said vehicle, said strip beingmagnetized whereby when said flanges are placed in contact with saiDexterior of said body said base strip is magnetically held thereto andsaid arcuate portion projects outwardly from said exterior to receiveand absorb any shock imparted thereto; and an extension strip ofresilient paramagnetic material, said extension strip being magnetizedand having an elongated arcuate-in-cross-section portion mating thecurvature of said arcuate portion of said base strip and bordered alongeach longitudinal edge thereof by an integral flat horizontal flangeextending outwardly therefrom to form contact surfaces for attachment ofsaid extension strip to the exterior of said body, said extension stripbeing magnetically saddled to the upper surface of said base strip andslidable relative thereto to vary the longitudinal length of saidapparatus.